Russia is building up a permanent Arctic force, Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu told RIA Novosti.

"We are building up a permanent force in the Arctic. Therefore, the armed forces will be able to more effectively defend our national interests in this region," Shoigu said at a meeting of the Defense Ministry board at the National Defense Control Center.

In December 2015, the 45^th Air Force / Air Defense Army of the Northern Fleet was established in order to step up control of the Arctic air space. Radio-technical units and a regiment of upgraded S-300PMU-2 Favorite (SA-20B Gargoyle) surface-to-air missiles have already been put on combat duty in the Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya and Severnaya Zemlya archipelagos and on the New Siberian Islands.